Illumination
by bezerkoid
Summary: Terra Nova is an okay place to live... but Jonathan Wynder wants to discover the truth about life in the strange world he lives in. What happens when what he believes in is shattered and everything he knows changes for the worse? Rated T for moderate violence and moderate language.


Minecraft fanfiction

**A/N: Yeah, basically I have become a massive Minecraft fan. I've also become somewhat envious of the Yogscast for the reason that they have a giant story arc to play (disclaimer: they did not introduce me to Minecraft) and this has led to me wanting to have my own. I'm going to do the next best thing and write it. So for better or worse, here goes.**

**Just a few things to clear up before we start. The first arc will be based off regular MC as much as possible. After that some stuff may come from the mods, I haven't decided yet (but I may choose to just take various skin designs and use them for inspiration). And finally, I will include a few shout outs, but hopefully not to the extent that entire scenes are stolen word for word. Suggestions and constructive criticism are welcome and much appreciated; bearing in mind I'm not sure how to get this off the ground.**

The light shone through the window, refracting off a glass pane on the opposite side of the room, before bursting into the eyes of one Jonathan Wynder, though everybody he knew called him "Wynder"; it didn't occur to anybody, his own parents included, that some other parents might name their kid "Jonathan", and as a result most people had a habit of using his last name. At this point in time, all he had known about life had been here in Terra Nova.

Life in the village of Terra Nova was the same as it had always been; that was to say, it was boring yet satisfying while also being peaceful. For all concerned, it had been a sign that life in such a bizarre yet wonderful world was not as bad as it had been made out to be. Despite the fact that few of the villagers ever left the makeshift walls set around the settlement, the daily life was sustainable and they had everything they needed, if not everything that was desired despite the council's claims to the contrary.

As Wynder awoke and rose from my bed, he looked out the window and smiled as he saw Farmer Charles Kapper working hard in the early morning light, cursing at the birds that flew too close to the crop. Despite the insistence of the council that the farmers erect scarecrows to keep such potential threats away, Kapper stubbornly stuck to the old way of waving a hoe at them and muttering in language that always caused his wife to blush. Next to him, old Roel dragged the milk cart around on the gravel, depositing a milk bottle on the Kapper's steps before going across to the next house and doing the same, the same jolly expression on his face and bounce in his step despite his relatively advanced age. For life in Terra Nova, most were lucky to reach the age of sixty-five, yet Roel was still working at the ripe old age of seventy-one. Everybody wondered what he had to keep himself going through the difficult days, though out of politeness they were somewhat hesitant to ask.

He peeked out the next window to see the village hall, recently redecorated with the marble walls polished and the new portraits of the council members gloriously on display. A sigh escaped from his lips, as he found himself uncertain what to make of it even after a week or two to take it all in. The council did indeed serve a purpose to the village, but at the same time the council had become even more political and even less focused on local affairs. To be fair, the events were not entirely in their control.

For the past few months, the trading with other villages had been rather unstable. Two weeks ago, the village of Waldlander had recently refused to trade any more crops with Terra Nova and the nearby hamlet of Tarrigan had not sent any couriers requesting a delivery. Neither cited a reason why, and the council had also been unwilling to pursue the issue, given how they had recently heard rumours of a zombie infested dungeon nearby. Regardless of the claims of "No-Sense Salaerin" that he had heard groans in the night, the council had pinned this on zombies trying to enter the settlement and Kapper had immediately blamed his wife.

_Charming_, Wynder thought to himself. _The man takes his produce to Dogshaw and comes back. The whole thing takes just two days, and his first thoughts upon return are about whom his wife has been sleeping with._ Granted, it wasn't exactly what he'd have called insufficient time to do so, but Kapper failed to trust the people closest to him and it could well be his undoing one day.

Even in the smaller scheme of things, he wasn't entirely sure that this was true. Everybody in the village had heard the rumours of a new settlement that had started construction in the mountains; for the unemployed here, it meant a place to work and for those not convinced the walls would hold, it meant high ground, though admittedly they were still thinking about the wildlife and hazards they might encounter there. The council wanted to expand the walls and cities, simultaneously putting the village and themselves on the map while being responsible for their developments. What opportunities this would bring, he could only-

At this, his reflection on current life was cut short as there was a knocking at the door.

"Damn you, Wynder! I've been knocking on the door for about a minute now and you're still not responding! Would you care to open the door and get your butt out here?"

The angry voice of Dawn Noble would probably have been enough to wake the dead as it echoed through his door, but given how most of the world's dead seemed to have a habit of getting up and munching on human brains the phrase seemed a little meaningless. Wynder sighed and stretched one last time, throwing on some clothes and groggily moving towards the door, foot accidentally kicking against his storage chest as he struggled out the room and finally managed to force himself out of the house.

The reward for this was the sight of her staring directly at him, face going red to match her hair. A pair of green eyes seemed to be trying to pierce his soul, though unfortunately for her the two of them had known each other long enough for him to adjust to this and be unfazed. A well-developed woman, with muscles that almost gave some of the guards a run for their money, she was clearly doing her best to stay patient with him despite his grouchy behaviour. Of course, her best wasn't quite enough today.

The two had only known each other for a year or two as she'd travelled from a town in the East, for reasons that Kapper had a feeling she would never tell anyone. All that he had heard was the name "Gilescast" when she had once fallen asleep on duty, but since then the farmer had not dared to ask.

"Sorry if I interrupted your beauty sleep. Do you mind if we get our backsides down to the farming area before Tesiro finds a reason to lower our rations?"

"Weirdly enough, I thought everybody's rations _had_ been lowered after the crop failed two weeks ago."

She lightly punched him in the shoulder and frowned as she did so.

"You can be so annoying, you know that?"

"And you can be so beautiful when you're annoyed, you known that?"

Wynder chuckled at his own joke, though he was quick to shut up when she glared at him. The rest of their journey to the farm was silent, save for the shouting from Tesiro promptly intensifying as the pair approached their work stations. Once again, they both looked up to see the greying hair, dark eyes and permanently frowning facial features doing their best to intimidate, but like with Dawn this had ceased working and he'd failed to realise that he was doing little more than boring everyone around him.

"Well, well. Wynder and Noble. It's spectacular to see that you've finally risen to help us at eight in the morning, when you both know the sunrise is at half past seven at this time of year. Now hurry up, and get to your post. We've crops to produce and families to feed."

Sighing, Wynder dragged himself over to the well, grabbing a bucket as he did so, while Dawn ran over to help sow the seeds. Both were oblivious to the newcomer that was walking up to the village gate...

**That will be it for now. I just wanted to kick this off the ground and use this to try and kick my main projects back into life. The next chapter of WATXM will be up by the end of the year. Not sure about Batman, given how that was well over two years ago. Just stay tuned and thank you, whether if by some miracle you're still with me after the delays, or if you're a newcomer.**


End file.
